(Photos © J. Maus)
OK, so it’s only temporary, but I couldn’t resist.
If you haven’t done so already, take a ride on Naito Parkway, or along the Waterfront Park path near the Burnside Bridge, and you’ll be greeted with a very nice surprise. Construction crews working in the park (on the Saturday Market project) have created a temporary detour that has created a two-way, separated bikeway in a full lane on the northbound side of Naito Parkway.
The lane begins just before Ankeny and goes under the bridge to Couch. I watched people using it yesterday and it was just as busy as the motorized traffic lane. I couldn’t help but dream that there was actually a significant bike facility on Naito Parkway instead of just the standard bike lane that is currently there.
with just a bike lane.
Naito recently had a major re-construction and the city striped bike lanes on it for the first time. They work O.K., but I have heard grumblings from bike planners in town that feel the project was a missed opportunity to install some sort of cycletrack or separated bike lane on the east side of the street in Waterfront Park.
Who knows, maybe someday the city would actually consider doing something like this on one of our major streets. If not on Naito, than perhaps on another street. A guy can dream can’t he?